Rathdowney is on the Mount Lindesay Highway south of Beaudesert at the base of the McPherson Range. The eastern boundary is marked by the Logan River. It is also close to some of the areas of greatest biodiversity in Australia, and a gateway to various National Parks such as Border Ranges National Park and Mount Barney National Park with a variety of lush rainforest, eucalypt forest, mountain heath and other habitats. The former locality of Bigriggan is within Rathdowney, west of the town. It is accessed via Bigriggan Road which terminates at the Bigriggan Reserve Park, located near the confluence of Burnett Creek and the Logan River. The park provides camp sites with a kiosk by the river with access available to caravans, motorhomes and buses.
History
Mununjali is a dialect of the Yugambeh language.The Mununjali language area includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Scenic Rim and Beaudesert Shire Councils. The first European exploration of the area was by Patrick Logan, commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony, in 1828. The area became available for settlement in 1842. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior purchased a large freehold estate in 1876, which he named Rathdowney Station after the Murray-Prior estates in Rathdowney, Ireland. The town was named after the former Rathdowney pastoral station. Timber clearing was the first major industry in the area. Cattle grazing and dairy farming are now the main industries. Bigriggan Provisional School opened on November 1892. There were a number of temporary closures due to low student numbers before it closed in 1906. It re-opened in 1910 as Bigriggan State School but closed permanently on 25 April 1912. Rathdownie Provisional School opened on 10 February 1908. On 1 January 1909 it became Rathdownie State School. In 1914 the name was changed to Cashell's Hill State Schoo. It closed in 1924. The Beaudesert Shire Tramway was extended to Rathdowney in 1911 but closed in 1944. Rathdowney Terminus State School opened on 14 May 1912; the school's name presumably refers to the terminus of the tramway. In 1915 it was renamed Rathdowney State School. In April 1928, 116 subdivided allotments of "Telemon Estate, Beaudesert" were auctioned by Isles, Love & Co. and in conjunction with M. Selwyn Smith & Son Auctioneers. 25 dairy and agricultural farms, 72 township allotments and 19 farmlets from the estate of Chris J. Collins were available. According to the map advertising the auction, the estate was 17 miles from Beaudesert and 64 miles from Brisbane. At the 2011 census, Rathdowney had a population of 434.
Heritage listings
Rathdowney has the following heritage-listed sites:
8-12 Hardgrave Street and 14-18 Prior Street: St David's Church of England
Rathdowney State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at Mount Lindesay Highway. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 39 students with 7 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff. The school has a swimming pool in which every spring and summer the swimming club has races on a Friday night. The swimming club also has swimming training during the week after school.
Amenities
Currently the small town has a police station, a small shop, a pub, a service station, a post office, memorial grounds, information centre, and a bowls club. The Scenic Rim Regional Council operates a mobile library service which visits Collins Street.
Attractions
There are many tours, farm stays, guest houses and other opportunities available for visitors to experience this region, which is about a 90-minute drive from Brisbane or the Gold Coast. In Autumn every year the population rises by several thousand for one day at the Rathdowney Heritage Festival, organised by the Rathdowney and District Historical Association, who also run an information centre with information on natural heritage, indigenous heritage and history of white settlement from the time of the first pioneers to present day. Mount Maroon is west of Rathdowney. At the summit provides 360 degree views.
